This page describes the early work we did with the YEP research group to determine how we would work together, what we wanted to accomplish, and what we collectively meant by youth engagement in policy advocacy. We used activities and guided discussions to introduce members to the project, establish shared norms, and create a shared understanding of youth engagement in policy advocacy based on the lived experience of research group members.
Project introduction
We started our work with the research group by holding five separate kickoff meetings, one with each of the adult/young person pairs from each grantee organization. In these kickoff meetings, we provided a project overview to establish the purpose of the research group, introduce its members, clarify expectations, and outline a rough project timeline. We also offered a brief overview of the research, including the steps of the research process, project goals, expected qualitative data collection and analysis methods, and the requirements for sharing our research findings.
Example Facilitation Guides
- YEP Meeting 1 - Individual Meeting Facilitation Guide– This facilitation guide demonstrates the structure and flow of our kickoff meetings with individual grantee organizations.
- YEP Meeting 1 - Individual Meeting Slides– Slides to accompany the facilitation guide for our kickoff meetings.
Group norms and expectations
In our first full group meeting, we dedicated time to developing our group norms. We led a facilitated activity asking research group members to reflect on what helps them feel successful working in groups, how to ensure members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas, how we will make decisions together, and how to handle disagreements or conflicts. After this meeting, Child Trends staff distilled these ideas into a slide with proposed group norms that research group members added to and approved in the next full group meeting.
Example Facilitation Guides
- YEP Meeting 2 - Full Group Facilitation Guide– In this facilitation guide, you’ll find details for our group norms activity.
- YEP Meeting 2 - Full Group Slides– Slides to accompany the facilitation guide for the group norms activity.
- YEP Group Norms – The results of our activity and discussion for the group norms we used to work together.
Exit tickets
As a standard practice, we asked for feedback after each meeting with research group members to understand what was going well and what we could change to better support the group and the project. We put the link to our exit ticket survey in the chat at the end of each meeting. Below are the questions we included in our exit ticket survey:
- On a scale of 1-5 (1 being bad, 5 being good), how would you rate this meeting?
- What did you enjoy during this meeting?
- What would you change for the next meeting?
- Any other questions, comments, or suggestions?
The Youth Engagement in Policy Research Group brought together young leaders and practitioners from across the country: Jamya Clark and Faith Robinson (New Orleans Youth Alliance); Teddy DeLeon-Alvarado, Blandina Flores, and Sam Joo (Para Los Niños); Iziko Calderon and Brisia Gutierrez (Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative); Nadirra Monrose and Tony Turner (Center for Fair Futures); and Deven Rudy-Johnson, MSW, and Kyra Stoute (Georgia EmpowerMEnt). Child Trends staff included principal investigators Amy McKlindon and Samantha Holquist; researchers Alyssa Scott, Ja’Chelle Ball, Jessica Conway, and Sage Caballero; and senior advisors Karin Malm and Elizabeth Jordan (Child Trends) and Julie Petrokubi (Education Northwest).
If you have questions about the Authentic Youth Engagement in Policy Project, please contact co-Principal Investigators Amy McKlindon at amcklindon@childtrends.org and Samantha E. Holquist at sholquist@childtrends.org.
This study is supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation through its Foster Youth and Opportunity Youth Initiatives.